Ranking every SEC team by how much pressure it faces to make the College Football Playoff

The College Football Playoff will feature a 12-team field for a second-straight (and possibly final ever) year in 2025-26.

The SEC sent 3 teams (Georgia, Texas and Tennessee) to the Playoff last season. Alabama, South Carolina and Ole Miss were just on the outside of the field (and probably would have made it in a 16-team field). Let’s just say there are more than 3 SEC teams who think they belong in the postseason this year.

Which teams will be pleasantly surprised to make the Playoff? Which schools will be devastated if they don’t? I ranked every SEC team by how much pressure it faces to make the College Football Playoff this fall:

No Pressure Whatsoever

These teams don’t have any pressure at all when it comes to making the Playoff field this year:

16. Mississippi State

Yeah, no one expects Jeff Lebby‘s crew to be in the 12-team Playoff this fall. It’s Year 2 of a massive rebuild in Starkville. Just winning an SEC game this year would be a good step forward.

15. Vanderbilt

Keep in mind — these aren’t power rankings. Vanderbilt should absolutely expect to finish higher than 15th in the SEC this season. But as far as Playoff pressure? There’s absolutely none in Nashville.

14. Kentucky

The pressure is more on the men’s hoops team this coming year. The Wildcats spent a bundle of NIL money on the basketball roster. Meanwhile, the football team is trotting out Zach Calzada at QB this season. He’ll turn 25 in November. Let’s just say the football fans in Lexington are being realistic about expectations for Kentucky in 2025.

13. Arkansas

Arkansas needs to have a good season to save Sam Pittman‘s job, yes. But does that season need to end in the Playoff for that to happen? With Arkansas’s brutal schedule, I’ll say no.

Minimal Pressure

These teams won’t necessarily consider it a “lost season” if they don’t make the Playoff, but there are worlds where they’re around the top-16 late into the 2025 campaign:

12. Mizzou

The Tigers have won 10+ games in back-to-back seasons, but that doesn’t mean the pressure is on to make the Playoff. The Tigers have a new quarterback in Beau Pribula and have some key positions to replenish. Plus, if Mizzou is on the bubble when it comes to Playoff discussions at the end of the season, Tiger fans are naturally anticipating that their team will get screwed over.

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11. Auburn

Hugh Freeze is facing some pressure to turn things around at Auburn and accelerate the Tigers’ rebuild. Does that mean he absolutely needs to make the Playoff? I don’t think so, but progress needs to be made on The Plains this fall.

Moderate Pressure

A full collapse in 2025 would be unacceptable, but these teams won’t be pressing the reset button if they’re on the outside looking in this year:

10. Tennessee

Tennessee made it last year, so why aren’t the Vols higher on this list? Despite losing Nico Iamaleava to the portal and guys like Dylan Sampson and James Pearce Jr. to the NFL, there’s still plenty of talent on Rocky Top. I’m just not sure new QB Joey Aguilar is the answer for this Josh Heupel offense after transferring in the spring. In 2026, the Vols will have much more pressure to make the Playoff.

9. Oklahoma

Like Freeze and Pittman, Brent Venables needs to have a better 2025. Venables and the Sooners are higher on this list because of the major investments they made on offense — new QB/OC combo John Mateer/Ben Arbuckle from Washington State and Cal RB Jaydn Ott leading the way.

8. South Carolina

LaNorris Sellers has a chance to be an elite SEC quarterback. If his teammates step up around him, he might end his season at the Heisman Trophy ceremony in New York City. However, I’m concerned about some of the South Carolina skill players around him. Can Nyck Harbor be a WR1? I’m not sure. What’s up with the Rahsul Faison situation? Until I get answers to those questions, this is where the Gamecocks will reside on the pressure meter.

7. Texas A&M

Texas A&M hasn’t won 10+ games since 2012. Before that, you have to go back to 1998 to find a 10+ win season for the Aggies. Sure, they had their moments under Mike Elko in Year 1 and were competitive late into the season, but until they prove they can consistently win 10+ games, how can you say there’s a ton of pressure to make the Playoff? First things first, y’all.

High Pressure

Will these teams fire their head coaches for missing the Playoff? Maybe, maybe not. But there’s ample pressure to be in the top 12 at these schools:

6. Florida

If not now, when? The Gators have a potential All-SEC QB in DJ Lagway. The skill positions are solid. The offensive line is a strength. The defense should be fine. Billy Napier kept his job this past offseason so Florida could go all-in on NIL funds instead of paying another buyout. The pressure is on in Gainesville.

5. Ole Miss

Lane Kiffin is a master at adding talent through the transfer portal. But after the Jaxson Dart era failed to produce a Playoff (or even an SEC Championship Game) appearance, will boosters continue to fund the Rebels’ NIL efforts without more success on the field? That remains to be seen, but the pressure is on for Kiffin to get the most out of new QB Austin Simmons this fall.

Absolutely Must Make the Playoff

If these teams don’t make the 12-team field this year, it’ll be a travesty for the fan bases:

4. Alabama

Alabama got used to a certain level of success under Nick Saban. That level of success can be described as “astronomic.” They say you never want to be the guy who follow the guy. If Kalen DeBoer puts together another strong-but-not-Playoff-worthy 9-3 regular season this year, he might be run out of Tuscaloosa, even if that’s not entirely reasonable. “Reasonable” isn’t a thing in the world of SEC football.

3. Georgia

Will Georgia fire Kirby Smart if it doesn’t make the Playoff in 2025? Absolutely not. I feel stupid even posing that question as a hypothetical. But missing the Playoff would be a tough pill to swallow for the Bulldogs this year. Under Smart’s leadership, even finishing in the 7-12 range in the final Playoff rankings would be massively disappointing. This is one of the top programs in America and fans expect the rankings to reflect that at the end of the year.

2. Texas

The Longhorns have made it to the semifinals each of the last 2 seasons. That’s great. But Steve Sarkisian missed the chance to add the SEC Championship Game trophy to Texas‘s trophy case last year, losing to Georgia. The Longhorns then lost a tight game to eventual-champion Ohio State. With Arch Manning now installed firmly as the QB1, it’s championship or bust in Austin this year.

1. LSU

Brian Kelly‘s massive buyout might not be enough to save him if things go sideways in Baton Rouge this fall. LSU is absolutely loaded. The Tigers invested heavily in the transfer portal to surround Garrett Nussmeier with talent on offense and to fortify a stout, but inconsistent, defensive unit. Making it to the Playoff is the absolute minimum LSU needs to accomplish in 2025.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.